Federal Judge Permits Entry of Haitian-Refugee Children

By MIREYA NAVARRO,

Published: November 23, 1994

MIAMI, Nov. 22—
A Federal judge ruled today that Haitian children detained in the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay should be allowed into the United States in the same way that Cuban-refugee children were.

The decision by Judge C. Clyde Atkins of Federal District Court here affects 231 unaccompanied Haitians under age 18 who have been in the Guantanamo refugee camps since the summer.

Although Cuban children are also held in the camps, the Clinton Administration last month began allowing those who were under 18 and alone to enter the country on humanitarian grounds; another 3,000 children are expected to be brought to the United States with their families.

In a lawsuit against the Government, advocates for the Haitian refugees said the policy toward Haitian children discriminated against them on the basis of race and national origin.

"This has nothing to do with immigration; it has to do with equal protection under the law," said Steve Forester, the supervising lawyer for the Haitian Refugee Center, which had asked the court to change the policy.

"You can't give a right to one group and then deny it to another, equally situated group."

Justice Department officials had no comment on today's ruling, saying it was being reviewed. But lawyers for the department have argued that different treatment is justified for Haitians because the return from exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide means that Haitians no longer face persecution at home.

Mr. Forester disputed that assertion. "Conditions in Haiti are still extremely poor, and it's going to take at least six months to a year to see if there's going to be a significant reduction in street-level repression," he said.

The ruling was the latest chapter in efforts by exile groups and advocates for refugees to win the release of thousands of Cubans and Haitians detained at Guantanamo since American authorities intercepted them as they fled their respective countries for the United States.

About 30,000 Cubans have been held at Guantanamo and in Panama since last summer, when the Clinton Administration reversed a longstanding United States policy of summarily granting entry to people fleeing the Communist government of Fidel Castro and instead began detaining them.

About 20,000 Haitians have been detained since late June and early July, but most have returned to Haiti since President Aristide's return in October, and about 6,000 remain at Guantanamo.

Late last month, the Haitian Refugee Center joined a lawsuit in which Cuban-American lawyers successfully sought the right to meet in the camps with Cubans who were contemplating voluntary repatriation. Today's ruling was in response to the Haitian center's motion seeking, in addition to the children's parole to the United States, legal counsel for Haitian refugees in detention.

In his ruling, Judge Clyde ordered the Federal Government to give lawyers from the Haitian Refugee Center access in the camps to Haitians who files written requests for counsel.

He also ordered the Government to provide the center with the names of all Haitian refugees in Guantanamo Bay; the center is then to pass the names on to relatives or lawyers who request them.

Judge Clyde's decision does not include the 1,588 Haitian children who are in the camps with their families. But Cuban-exile groups in Florida say that, in urging the release of Cuban children, they have told Federal officials that they will also raise money to transport and relocate the Haitian children.

"We've been pressing the Administration for the solution of the problem of all the children in Guantanamo," said the president of the Cuban American National Foundation, Francisco Hernandez. "We don't believe children should be behind barbed wire."

Since the White House announced last month that unaccompanied Cuban-refugee children under 18, as well as elderly people and those with urgent medical needs, would be granted entry, 319 Cubans have been flown to the United States from Guantanamo. These humanitarian-parole flights are continuing.

Clinton Administration officials have also said that there are plans to release and bring to the United States all Cuban minors and their families, a group estimated at 8,000 to 10,000, although no date has been given for when those releases will begin.